New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) At 35, PR Sreejesh is standing at the twilight of his career and the Hangzhou Asian Games is most likely his last appearance at the continental showpiece.
But the veteran Indian hockey goalkeeper is determined to win the gold at Hangzhou to give himself a chance to earn a direct entry to the Paris Olympics next year, and do better there winning a yellow-coated medal.
Eight-time champions India had won a historic bronze at the Tokyo Olympics after 41 years beating Germany 5-4 in the play-off match.
“Obviously, next year’s Olympics is my main target and I want to change the colour of my medal there. But having said that, we need to qualify through the Asian Games (to Olympics) so that we get ample time to prepare ourselves,” Sreejesh told PTI.
Sreejesh reiterated that age is just a number for a sportsperson and gave the example of tennis great Novak Djokovic in this regard.
“I am right now taking one game, one tournament at a time. As (Novak) Djokovic said, 35 is the new 25. So, I’m definitely there,” he said.
Having handled the duties under the goal post of the Indian hockey team for more than 17 years, Sreejesh wants to groom the next generation of goalkeepers in India.
“Krishan (Bahadur Pathak) and me have been donning the goalkeeping responsibilities for a long time. We share a good rapport. There are upcoming goalkepeers like Suraj Karkera and Pawan Malik who are good and will only get better with time.
“I just want to ensure that there is enough back-up,” he said.
The Indian men’s hockey team goalkeepers, including Sreejesh, underwent some sessions under Dutchman Dennis van de Pol in the lead up to the Asian Games, which has been very helpful according to the veteran custodian.
“Dennis van de Pol is a good coach. It has really been beneficial to work with him. His experience and vast knowledge about goalkeeping has been very useful for us.
“He has deep knowledge about his skills and expertise and it has definitely helped us in all aspects of goalkeeping qualities,” he signed off.
Source: PTI News
